Peppermint Cheer
by ellowyntinuviel
Summary: Chuck and Olive have their own ideas about how to get into the holiday spirit. Set during season one. Chuck/Olive


Title: Peppermint Cheer

Author: ellowyntinuviel

Disclaimer: Um, once upon a time, I created this great show, and then it got taken away from me right under my nose; or rather, the actual creator took it back.

Word Count: 3,636

Pairing: Chuck/Olive

Summary: Chuck decides that it's time to spread some holiday cheer…

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"Chuck?"

"Yes, Ned?"

"Why is there fake frost spray painted on the windows?"

Chuck, who had been enjoying a traditional read and white candy cane at the counter of The Pie Hole, paused to raise an eyebrow at Ned. "Because it's the holiday season and this place needs some cheer. Don't worry, Ned. I've got big plans for this place: we're talking about a tree, lights everywhere, garland, a menorah, festive holiday music, eggnog, gingerbread cookies, apple cider…"

Ned blinked, fidgeting uncomfortably. "Listen, Chuck. I know that you love to decorate for various holidays, but can't we have a nice, normal-looking Pie Hole for a while? Wouldn't that be nice?" he queried, his face formed almost into a grimace.

Chuck cocked her head. "Sure, if you're into boring," she said matter-of-factly, placing the hook of her candy cane in her mouth.

Ned nodded. "Boring is nice. Boring is safe. Some of us prefer safety to constant danger."

Chuck sniggered, holding her candy cane up in the air. "Yes, my little candy cane is the bringer of doom. Oh no, beware the evil red and white peppermint hook!" she teased good-naturedly.

"Now if you want to talk about boring, Chuck," interjected the voice of Olive Snook, who had just joined the two at the counter as Chuck was threatening Ned with her candy cane, "let's talk about that little piece of candy you're holding in your hand. I mean, really, Chuck? Red and white? Peppermint? Where's your sense of adventure? You want to lecture Ned on stepping out and taking chances? Well maybe you should consider doing that yourself: step away from the known and discover the unknown! It's exciting!"

Chuck stared at her blankly. "It's a candy cane..."

The blond's head shook emphatically. "It's a metaphor for life!"

It was Ned's turn to stare. "It's a candy cane..."

Olive sighed, rolling her eyes. "That little candy cane is a reflection of an inability to explore the new. If you are that conservative in one aspect of life, you probably are in others as well," she informed them."That candy cane is boring."

Chuck turned her gaze to her candy cane. "Did you just insult my red and white peppermint candy cane?" she asked with a small smile on her face.

"Well, what if I did? What then, Chuck?" Olive teased, playing along. "What are you and that boring little hook going to do about it?"

Chuck mock-gasped. "Boring? Olive, this is classic! It's like pure nostalgia coated in peppermint," she explained, again with the air of someone who knew many things.

Ned saw a moment and seized it promptly before Olive could respond: "Exactly! This is the classic Pie Hole! It's like pure nostalgia coated in…," he trailed off, unsure of the proper place to take his metaphor.

"Pie?" Olive suggested, laughing in earnest, a twinkle in her eye, which led Chuck to giggle.

Ned frowned at the two women, feeling a bit like Rudolph being picked on by the other reindeer. "My point is that you cannot sit there and tell me to accept change when you don't either," he rationalized.

Chuck, switching back into the mode of the informed, well-read woman, had another rational response to his: "Ah, but the difference here, Ned, is that my red and white candy cane is a classic holiday tradition, and is rarely seen during other times of year, if at all. The Pie Hole, while admittedly classic, is currently appropriate for any time of year. I want to decorate this place so it to established a classic holiday identity independent of its typical year-round identity."

Ned blinked, his lips pursed, defeat written across his features. He sighed. "You already gave it a Halloween identity," he started, "so does it need another one? Are you trying to create a schizophrenic Pie Hole?"

Chuck raised an eyebrow at him again. "No, I'm trying to make The Pie Hole festive, as I have already explained. There's nothing you can do to stop it, so I think it's best if you just accept the inevitable."

Ned considered mentioning that Chuck's death was inevitable, but the continued presence of Olive stopped him. "Fine. I'll be in the kitchen with Digby, who won't try to force holiday cheer on me," he told the two before stalking off into his natural habitat as the Pie Maker.

"That's fine," the former dead girl called after him, "but I should tell you that we're adding eggnog and apple cider to the menu!"

Olive laughed lightly. "Goodness, Chuck, are you trying to give Ned a heart condition?"

Chuck smiled, shaking her head. "No, I'm just trying to broaden his horizons, and show him that there's a whole other world out there."

Olive raised an eyebrow, smirking at her. "A red and white one?"

The brunette pretended to glare at her. "We've been over this: it's a classic holiday tradition," she said.

"If you want to be bored…," Olive scoffed.

Chuck made a big show of putting her candy cane back in her mouth and talking around it: "I'm sorry, Olive. Do you have something against peppermint? What did it ever do to you?"

"It bored me to death," the blond woman said.

"It's fine!" the younger woman groaned. "Don't mess with my peppermint!"

"But Chuck," Olive began, "there are so many more options now! There's chocolate, chocolate mint, strawberry, watermelon, sour apple, raspberry, butterscotch, bubblegum! And if you absolutely must have peppermint, why not at least venture into the realm of peppermint canes that are red and green?"

Chuck blinked, her candy cane half hanging out of her mouth. Wordlessly, she smiled brightly and proceeded to take a large, loud bite out of her red and white classic holiday treat.

Olive threw up her arms in exasperation. "Alright," she practically growled," but you should know that I'm bringing you more candy canes in more flavors than you can imagine, and you're going to try each flavor, whether you want to or not."

Chuck opened her mouth to respond, but Olive stopped her with a wave of her hand. "Relax. I'm not trying to give you a heart condition; I'm just trying to broaden your horizons, and show you that there are other worlds out there," the blond said, smiling sweetly.

The implications of such a statement startled Chuck for a brief moment. The brunette glared at her. "I hate you," she said teasingly.

Olive just laughed as she turned to leave, and Chuck couldn't help but smile after her.

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"Chuck?"

"Yes, Ned?"

"I'm not going to bother asking about all the decorations—the tree, the lights, garland, the menorah—but why are there candy canes covering everything?"

"You forgot the stockings," Chuck grinned, pointing to the wall behind the counter above their heads, where, when he looked up, Ned could see four stockings, each with a name: Digby, Ned, Chuck, and Olive.

Ned cleared his throat, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "What about Emerson?" he asked.

The dark-haired woman shrugged. "Emerson doesn't work here. For all anyone else knows, he's just another regular. If we give him a stocking, we have to give all the regulars stockings."

"He's not just another regular," Ned defended. "He's Emerson…"

Chuck nodded, reaching under the counter and sheepishly pulling out another stocking. She set it on the counter between herself and the pie maker. "I had another one made just in case. You can hang it," she informed him.

He glanced down, noting the name embroidered on it. "Pooh."

Ned sent Chuck a small smile, barely managing to contain his amusement. "He's going to kill you."

Chuck winked. "I'd like to see him try."

Ned shook his head, carefully moving around the counter and stretching out to hang the stocking on a conveniently placed nail, so that the arrangement now read: Pooh, Digby, Ned, Chuck, and Olive. He couldn't help but smile at the fact that they seemed to be their own little family, a strange dysfunctional family, but a family nonetheless. Grinning, the Pie Maker considered that for the first time since his mother died, he was part of a family again.

Perfect timing dictated that another member of his "family" would enter at that moment, and Emerson walked into The Pie Hole. "And what is going on here?" he demanded, looking around the bright and festive Pie Hole with mild disdain.

"Ned just finished hanging your stocking," Chuck informed him with a large grin.

"Pooh? What in the --? You listen here, dead girl—," he began angrily, his nostrils flaring and his eyes narrowing as he jabbed one large finger at Chuck.

Chuck's grin widened further as she pulled out a large festive mug and put it in front of the investigator. "Apple cider, Emerson?"

Emerson paused, his mouth gaping and his eyes wide. He sat down quickly. "I love apple cider," he exclaimed. He eagerly took the mug offered, pushing candy canes across the counter to make adequate space.

The large man took a small sip of the cider, unable to stop the silly smile that settled on his face. He placed his mug on the table for a moment, looking around again. "Why are there so many candy canes? I don't like candy canes; I don't want any candy canes in my apple cider."

The gazes of all three swept across the interior of The Pie Hole, which was, quite literally, covered in candy canes of assorted flavors, colors, and sizes.

There were green and brown striped chocolate mint candy canes covering tabletops, mixed in with pink strawberry canes, and red watermelon canes. There were blue raspberry canes, mixed with yellow butterscotch canes hanging off the backs of chairs, along with green apple. There were green and red mint canes and random pink bubblegum canes laid across the main counter. One could only hope that the poor innocent candy cane lovers could tell the difference between the pink bubblegum canes and pink strawberry canes purely on site.

"It's not my doing," Chuck explained. "I did place some normal candy canes on the tree, but that's all."

Emerson cast a suspicious glance at Ned. "So who is responsible then?"

Ned sputtered. "Well, it wasn't me! I don't even like holiday cheer!"

It just so happened that perfect timing once again seemed to be the order of the day at The Pie Hole, as at that moment, Olive Snook waltzed in beaming.

"Hello, all you happy Pie Hole patrons!" she practically chirped.

Emerson grimaced at the small woman. "You must be responsible for this candy cane caper then?"

"I'm just helping to spread the cheer," the waitress said brightly.

Ned stuffed his hands back into his pockets. "You're not spreading it," he told her, "you're trying to impale people with it."

Olive waved a perfectly manicured hand at him. "Oh, relax! No one is going to get hurt," she said with vigor. "Now, you go back into your cheer-less boring kitchen, while Chuck and I experiment!"

Both Ned and Chuck blinked at her, staring, Ned wondering what to say to such a statement, and Chuck once again pondering the implications of Olive's words. "What are you experimenting with?" Ned asked, almost worried about what the petite woman could have planned for Chuck.

Olive picked up one of the candy canes on the table, waving it at them. "Why, candy canes of course!"

Ned smiled at Chuck, nodding his head at her. "Good luck with that, Chuck. If anyone needs me, I'll be in my candy-cane free kitchen," he informed them, backing into the kitchen slowly.

Emerson stood up, silently walking away from them and settling at his usual table, his mug of apple cider clutched firmly in his hands.

Olive waved a reluctant Chuck around the counter. Chuck face contorted to show her unwillingness at the prospect of a "candy cane experiment" but the blond woman was not to be deterred. She grabbed Chuck's arm, and pulled her along to an empty booth in The Pie Hole. "Would you stop being such a coward. I'm not going to hurt you," the waitress told her before lightly shoving the brunette into the booth.

Chuck, who had yet to say anything, readjusted herself in the booth, watching Olive slide in across from her, hands full of bright candy canes and a bright smile on her face. "What about customers? Who's going to serve them their pie?" Chuck asked, hoping to force some logic into the other woman.

"It's morning. You know we rarely get customers first thing in the morning," Olive dismissed her. "And besides, if we do get some, I can help them and then come back over here."

Olive continued to beam at her, and Chuck sighed heavily, seeming to accept her fate. She was unwilling to admit that Olive's continued excitement at what was to come played a part in her decision to go through with what Olive had planned. The blond seemed so incredibly thrilled, and Chuck considered that it would have been a shame for her to dampen the spirits of Olive. "So," she started, "where do we begin?"

If it was possible, Olive became more excited, practically bouncing in her seat, even after a failed attempt at clapping her hands; she had forgotten that she was holding so many candy canes, and so only managed in making some muffled plastic-sounding smacks.

Olive dropped all of her candy canes on the table, and pulled out a bottle of water. "Okay, now you don't have to eat all of each candy cane: you only have to try it. Just have a small taste of each one, and I will leave you alone. Who knows? Maybe you'll find one you really enjoy!"

Chuck nodded. "I can't believe I'm doing this," she muttered, picking up a bright pink candy cane. She gazed at it for a moment, holding it in directly in front of her, catching the happy look on Olive's face opposite her. With a sigh, she undid the wrapper and exposed a small part of it, tentatively licking one side. She grimaced. "It tastes like fake strawberry flavoring."

Olive nodded. "It's like strawberry candy! Of course it's going to be fake, but that's the point. If you want the taste of fresh strawberries, eat some fresh strawberries," she informed Chuck, handing her the bottled water.

Chuck took a sip and then placed the top back on the bottle. "My peppermint candy canes taste like normal peppermint."

With a mild, half-friendly glare, Olive handed her a blue candy cane, and Chuck sighed again, but once again unwrapped it, hesitantly sticking part of it into her mouth. When Olive suddenly giggled, Chuck raised an eyebrow at her, continuing to try the blue candy cane, which she discovered was blue raspberry and was actually not quite bad. "What?" the brunette queried.

Olive covered her hand with her mouth in an attempt to stifle herself. "Now you're going to have a blue tongue and lips," Olive informed her.

Chuck quickly removed the candy cane from her mouth, laughter bubbling out of her suddenly at the ridiculousness of the whole situation. Olive's laughter, she found, could be quite infectious.

Chuck reluctant and suspicious mood were alleviated and gone as the two continued to enjoy themselves. Olive continued to give Chuck assorted candy canes to try, and they would both laugh when Chuck would either make a disgusted face or latch onto the candy cane with appreciation. Occasionally, Olive would get up and tend to a customer who walked in, and Chuck would watch her leave with a small tinge of sadness that she would ignore by continuing to sample the candy canes Olive had left on the table. When Olive would return, their joyous mood propelled them forward until they had sampled every last candy cane Olive had brought, and Chuck's mouth was an odd mix of color: a bit blue here, a little green there, with some red and purple thrown in for good measure.

As The Pie Hole became busier, customers coming in out of the cold for a warm rest, and regulars coming in for some pie and a chat, the two women had to end their time together, each admittedly reluctant to do so.

Chuck cleared her throat, standing up. "This was actually a lot of fun, Olive," she told the blond.

"Now aren't you glad I volunteered to broaden your horizons?" Olive asked smugly.

With an exaggerated groan, and a quick wink, Chuck nodded. "Yes, I am," she admitted. "Who knew there were so many different kinds of candy canes?"

Olive caught a customer waving her over, and sent him a smile as she raised her hand to tell him she would be right with him. The waitress put her hand on Chuck's arm, becoming more serious. "Listen, Chuck. I know we've had our differences, and we've had our moments where I've wanted to come after you with a pie tin and whack you upside the head repeatedly. But I had a lot of fun today, too, and I'm glad we got some time together," Olive smiled sincerely. She pulled something out of the pocket of her orange waitressing dress, and handed it to Chuck. "In honor of your bravery, I brought you something."

With one last smile, Olive turned away from her, heading over to the man who had needed her assistance. Olive had moved into waitress mode, moving between booths, getting people their pie and their drinks, smiling and making small talk with every adult, and stopping to be sweet and kind to the little kids with their parents, encouraging everyone to help him or herself to a candy cane.

Momentarily distracted, Chuck watched her effortlessly cater to the crowd before she turned her attention to what Olive had given her. It was completely normal red and white striped peppermint candy cane, with a bright red ribbon tied on it, and a small note that had Chuck's name and a large heart. Chuck blushed against her will, and did the only thing she could think to do: place the candy cane under the counter, and go into the kitchen, where Ned promptly blinked at her, and then laughed at the strange colorful state of her mouth.

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"Chuck?"

"Hello, Olive," Chuck said to the smaller woman as she stood outside Olive's apartment the evening after their "candy cane experiment."

Olive ushered her in. "Hi," the blond greeted. "What are you doing here?"

Chuck grinned, her hands clasped behind her back. "I brought you something for being a know-it-all, but a well-intentioned one at that."

Olive motioned her into the small kitchen, asking if she wanted anything to drink. Chuck told her that she was fine, acutely aware of the small space they were standing in. She felt suddenly awkward, wondering if she was doing the right thing. As the brunette had sat thinking about her day, she had become emboldened with the thought that she wanted to give something back to Olive for showing her such a good time, but something felt entirely inappropriate about what she was doing.

Realizing that Olive was staring at her expectantly, Chuck cleared her throat, bringing her own gift out from behind her back, and holding it in front of her.

Olive laughed lightly, smiling sweetly. Chuck was holding a heart made out of two joined red and white peppermint candy canes, red ribbon connecting them. She carefully took the heart from Chuck, sending the younger woman a grin. "Chuck, it's adorable!"

"I know how much you love red and white peppermint," Chuck said good-naturedly.

Olive pretended to be insulted. "I will have you know that I happen to love peppermint," she said, moving closer to Chuck so she could poke the brunette. "The point was trying new things."

"I try new things," Chuck said. "I tried many new things today," she defended.

Olive nodded. "True, but normally, you tend to stick to what you know. Getting you to step outside the box, even a little, was worse than trying to pull a starving bear's teeth."

Chuck, continually aware of how close they were now that Olive had come to stand right in front of her, shrugged. "I'm human. Humans, by nature, don't like change. New things are scary."

"But Chuck, do you always want to be a typical peppermint girl?" the petite woman implored her.

The nearness of the waitress, and the sight of the Olive holding her peppermint heart spurred Chuck on, and without warning, she moved forward and pressed her lips to Olive. For a few short seconds that felt like hours to Chuck, Olive was too shocked to move. But after a moment, Olive moved against her, wrapping an arm around her.

The sudden kiss went on for a short time, each woman surprised to find the contact stimulating and wanted. With one lingering kiss, Olive pulled away from Chuck, who looked stricken at what she had done.

The small blond kept one arm around her and smiled up at her. "Someone's been having peppermint," she accused with a smile, lightening the mood that had settled within the brunette.

Chuck grinned sheepishly, pulling Olive's arm out from around her, and taking her hand. "Well, I can only try so many new things in one day. I think I met my quota for the day," she informed Olive. "But if it makes you feel any better, I gave my last red and white peppermint candy canes to give you that heart."

Olive beamed at her, and kissed her again deeply. "How about we share the peppermint love?" she muttered.

Chuck gave her a small nod. "I don't know how anyone could dislike holiday cheer."

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The End

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